other Christians are in of being reduc'd under the Slavery of this Mortal and common Enemy so that how prosperous soever the Christian Arms are or have been we are still in greater danger than ever of being ruin'd by the Legions of these Infidels not those of their Spahi or Janizaries but by those of another Order far more mischeivous forasmuch as they fight under our own Colors and pretend to be of our Party such Enemies are ever look'd upon as the most dangerous for they are rarely discover'd till they have given the Mortal Blow Now these are the Socinians a Sect which though exploded the World above a thousand Years ago under the appellation of Arians are in these our days risen again from the Grave and like Spectrums appear every where in the Dark In denying therefore the Divinity of Jesus Christ they do with the Mahometans not only deny the Trinity the Doctrine of Justification or the Merits of Christ's Satisfaction but also Baptism in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost together with the Doctrine of Original Sin So many fatal Errours do follow one upon the Neck of another by denying that one Fundamental Truth which Christ himself is pleas'd to call the Basis of his Church viz. That glorious confession of St. Peter Thou art Christ the Son of the living God The Socinians we all know are a Mungril Brood half Christians half Turks and for this Reason 't is that they swarm so much in Poland Hungary and Transylvania and are found at this day to fight openly for the Crescent against the Cross This Argument is too great and weighty to be discours'd upon under the Method I am engag'd to it would require a Volume though we cannot but hope that as the Pens of pious and learned Men will not be wanting to pursue and stab their Errours so the Sword of the Magistrate will not fail to find out their Persons CHAP. XXVII Of the Immortality of the Soul THe Immortality of Man's Soul is a point of high concernment and comes next to be consider'd of for as much as all our reliance upon God's Providential Order as also all the hopes and rewards which depend upon our Faith with whatsoever else relates to our Christian Practice are all built upon this Persuasion viz. That the Soul of Man which is the Principle or Source of all his Actions is of an incorruptible Nature and survives the Body But before we proceed to Proof 't is necessary to clear some doubts which seem to obstruct us in the Prosecution of this Argument The first grand difficulty is from the Old Testament for if the Immortality of the Soul be so great a Truth and so necessary to be believ'd how comes it to pass we find no mention of it in all the Jewish Writers of Old In all the Books of the Old Testament there is no place to be found where there is so much as mention made of the Kingdom of Heaven â—â— of a future 〈◊〉 after Death Had the Patriarchs and Prophets believ'd any such thing they must needs have mention'd it some time or other as being a thing of the greatest concern to them and the best support against the Misfortunes of the World and the Terrour of Death And above all David must needs have taken notice of it having such frequent occasions given him for it from the whole course and variable occurrences of his life Nay even at his Death his Discourses with Solomon were very copious about setling the Temporal Affairs of his Kingdom but not a Word of the place where he was going to nor do we find that Abraham Jacob Moses Samuel or any of the Patriarchs and Prophets to whom God so largely and familiarly reveal'd his Will ever touch'd upon this important point at the hour of their Death only we read that they slept with their Fathers and were gather'd to their People and there was an end And though we read oft times of the Soul and of Hell in the Old Testament yet 't is plain that by Hell is understood nothing but Death or the Grave as by the Soul also is understood no more but the animal Life and sometiâ—es the Heart and Affections A Resurrection of the Body is indeed mention'd by Job and Daniel but that 's another point but no proof can be produc'd which speaks of the Soul as of an immaterial and spiritual substance subsisting after Death To this I answer First that the Scripture is not so silent touching the Soul's Immortality but that there is ground enough even from Scripture to make the matter dubious For most Divines are of Opinion that 't was Samuel's real Soul which God suffer'd the Witch to raise the Night before Saul's Death which could not be had it not surviv'd the Body And even in Ecclesiastes which Book seems even in a manner to determine Man's felicity in Temporal Enjoyments upon the summ of the matter we are told by Solomon that the Body shall return to the Dust but the Spirit to God that gave it though much either way cannot be concluded from the Passages of this Book which seems to be no other than a Collection of Observations made by Solomon under his two Capacities Natural and Divine or a Miscellany of Aphorisms as they were dictated by the Natural Man and Wisdom But whatever it be this is certain that if the Books of Tobit and of Wisdom be of any Credit with us as I know not but they should there is enough for our purpose being told Cap. 2. and 3. of Wisdom that God created Man to be Immortal and that the Souls of the Righteous are in the hands of God and there should no Torment touch them and a little after he says that though they be punish'd in the sight of Men yet is their Hope full of Immortality Tobit also in his Prayer Cap. 3. desires of God that he might be deliver'd out of his Distress and go into the everlasting place In the next place 't is notwithstanding probable that God thought fit to conceal the clear knowledge of this as also of other Important Mysteries of Religion such as the Doctrine of the Trinity and of the Incarnation with some Truths of this Nature from the Generality of the Jews to render the Preaching of the Gospel more glorious by the new Discoveries it was to bring along with it and this is what Saint Paul tells us expresly 2 Tim. c. 1. viz. That Jesus Christ had abolish'd Death and brought Life and Immortality to Light through the Gospel though 't is pious also to believe That many of the Holy Patriarchs and Prophets under the Mosaical Institution had some secret dawnings of this Light even by the Shadows it reflected Their wandrings in the Wilderness represented their Instability Hardships and Errours of Life all which were to end in Caanan the place of everlasting Rest Their Jubelees also and Sabbaths were Types also of the same Everlasting Rest as St.
there was such a General decay of Piety and Christian Vertue in these People who now groan under the Mahometan Yoke at such time as they became its Vassals is notoriously evident in all Monuments of Antiquity nor does Mahomet promise Blessings and Mercies to his Followers but upon such Conditions as are before mention'd viz. Beleif Repentance and Good-Works In the next place that there should be great Apostasies from the Faith and that there should arise great Seducers and false Prophets or Antichrists who should deceive many and introduce New and Damnable Doctrines was what Christ foretold and caution'd those who embrac'd his Doctrine to beware of it so that the event is so far from weakning the Truth of the Christian Religion that it does fortifie the same by the accomplishment of what Jesus fore-told In the third place such a Breach in the Christian Body is no diminution of Christ's Power and Goodness the Church of Christ in this World is in a state Militant expos'd to continual Fatigues and Dangers and sometimes to Defeats and to Captivity this is nothing but what Christ also foretold in his Gospel and what he himself suffer'd Now here indeed is the Power and Goodness of God made manifest that maugre all the Barbarity and Artifice of Turkish Gorvernment the number of Christians throughout their Dominions far exceeds that of those who hold them in Subjection Nor have the Turks introduc'd amongst the Greeks any Doctrines of their own which may poison the Christian Faith so that however their Temporal Estates may suffer by God's wonderfull Providence and Goodness they are not in any subjection as to their Souls all which serves to wean Men from the Love of this World and to settle their thoughts upon a future State which is indeed the grand Scope and Method of the Gospel And as this is the Method with the Church in general so likewise is it with every true Christian in particular and although at first sight it may seem something harsh that Christ who came into the World to destroy the Works of the Devil and to redeem Men from Sin should notwithstanding suffer the same Devil to tempt us to sin and to ravish infinite numbers of Souls daily out of the Arms of the Church yet even in this particular he verifies his own Doctrine for Eternal Happiness is called a Crown Now a Crown or Garland through all Antiquity was ever held a Military Reward such were their Civil Moral and other Crowns so famous amongst the Ancients so that the very Reward does suppose a Victory and Victory a Fight and Fight an Enemy Conformable hereunto the Apostle tells us that we wrastle not with Flesh and Blood that is with our own sensual Appetites and Passions but with Principalities and Powers and spiritual Wickednesses in high Places that is with Devils who yet retain some kind of Government and are in Subordination to one another resembling the Hierarchy of the blessed Angels which are described also by the like Characters of Thrones Dominions Principalities and Powers and are always at hand to relieve and defend the Elect against Temporal Dangers and the Assaults of those black Legions as is every where most abundantly reveal'd in Scripture Now if Men for a corruptible Crown venture so much he certainly does not deserve one which is Eternal and Incorruptible who will not suffer hardship and combate the Enemies who oppose him Nor has Christ left the Members of his Church abandon'd and destitute for besides the assistance of the blessed Angels the assistance of his Sacraments together with his own Example Precepts and Promises he has for our farther Encouragement promiss'd us the assistance of his Holy Spirit to adorn us with many singular Graces and to direct his Church into the way of Truth and Holiness To all which whosoever has a true regard and lives a vertuous Life cannot but have a sollid assurance of being eternally happy In the last place the progress which the Mahometan Superstition has made is not so great as what the Professors of it do pretend they never met with any Philosophers to dispute with them nor Princes to persecute them so that like Weeds in a fruitfull Soil being neglected they soon grow up and over-run the good Ground What Opposition the Christian Religion met with in its Birth and Infancy we have already spoken of as also that the Christians after all their Calamities far exceed the Mahometans in number throughout all the Grand Signior's Dominions To put an end to this Discourse I put it thus to the Mahometan Mahomet in the Alcoran c. of the Table Alcoran brings in God thus speaking to him After many Prophets we have at last sent Jesus the Son of Mary he has confirm'd the Ancient Scriptures We have given him the Gospel full of Light to conduct the People into the right way they who follow the Gospel ought to judg how it is taught in the Gospel they who do not judge conformably to what God hath taught them are disobedient to his Divine Majesty The like he has in many other places of the Alcoran extolling also the Apostles of Jesus as sent and inspired by God moreover Chap. of Wines he calls the Jews Blasphemers of Alcor cap. of Wines Mary when they boasted how they had killed the Messiah even Jesus the Son of Mary the Apostle and Prophet of God They did not kill him nor crucified him but they crucified another Person who resembled him God having taken up Jesus to himself into Heaven Moreover in the forecited Chap. of the Table says he Those who say that the Messiah the Son of Mary is God are impious Now let us see how these Sayings of Mahomet can hang together It is in the Gospel that we read how Christ the Word was God or the Son of the living God also that he was Crucified and Rose again It is in the Gospel where we read that Christ taught and commanded his Disciples to Baptize all Nations in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost as also instituted the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper and left it as his last Legacy or Pledge of his Love before his Translation Now if the Gospel as Mahomet tells us be full of Light and left us by God to direct us into the way of Truth then must the forementioned Doctrines also be true for should the Gospel teach us a Falshood it could not be said to be full of Light and to direct us into the way of Truth Now if these Doctrines be true then must that which is taught by Mahomet to the contrary be false and consequently that Mahomet in so teaching is no less contradictory to himself than to the Truth and was therefore no true Prophet but a lying and wicked Imposture But before I take my leave of Mahomet it will not be amiss to advertise my Reader if he be a Christian of the danger both he and all
credit demonstrable from such Circumstances and Natural Influences of Reason as the most obstinate Sceptick cannot possibly withstand The Proofs which I shall bring for the Authority of the Jewish Religion are three The first is taken from a Consideration of the Jewish Nation in General The Second from the Authority of the Old Testament The last from the Certainty of its Predictions And first for the Jewish Nation 'T is well known that as they were the least being confin'd to a narrow Tract of Ground not exceeding One hundred and twenty Miles in length and Forty in breadth so were they a People of gross Intellectuals compar'd with the Egyptians Syrians and Babylonians who surrounded them They were not any way addicted to the Philosophy of the Greeks nor to the Ancient Learning of the Chaldeans nor any way curious in Mechanical Inventions They were not dignified or distinguished by Titles but liv'd contentedly and in a state of Equality each within the limits of his own Tribe improving their Patrimony by all Methods of good Husbandry in manuring the Earth and living frugally From whence it appears plainly that a People of this Genius could never invent such a Religion as should have the one only God the Great Creator of Heaven and Earth for the Scope and Object of their Adoration Neither could they receive Notions of this Nature from any of their forementioned Neighbours it being known to all the World that all the Nations round about them were gross Idolaters and held no conformity with the Jews in their Rites and Manners of Life We have a Description of the Perfection and Purity of their Religion in the best of Heathen Authors For Tacitus Tac. lib. 5. histor tells us that the Jews worshipped one only Deity mente sola detesting those as prophane who represented the Gods under the gross Shapes and Images of Men believing the one Supreme God to be Eternal and Immutable But whatsoever their Belief was we find their Practice to be many times very degenerate For our better illustration therefore of this Argument 't will not be amiss to take a short view of their Dispositions and Actions as they are represented to us in their own Acts and Monuments The Jewish Nation were a People separated from the rest of men by many signal Favours and Prerogatives They had lain almost Four hundred Years under the Yoke of Egypt till at length God remembring his Promises does raise them up a Deliverer Moses who by many Wonders rescu'd them from under the Hand of the Oppressor As for Pharaoh and his Host he overthrew them in the Red Sea And 't was but meet they should be overwhelm'd in the Waters who were first drown'd in Security and Impenitence But for Israel to forget God that God who had done so great things for them was as Prodigious as their very Deliverance They left Egypt 't is true but yet they still continu'd in the Land of Darkness and were harder than the Rock which obey'd the Rod and yielded Waters to quench those Heats which their own Lusts had first kindled They resisted the Lord their Deliverer in their Murmurings against Moses and Aaron Nor did they only contend with Moses their Civil Governour but they sought the Priesthood also saying Ye take too much upon you seeing all the Congregation is holy every one of them And strange was their Presumption when they knew no other way to make an Atonement but by committing Sacrilege I mean by offering up of strange Fire such as made them both Priests and Sacrifice And as tho all remembrance of the Judgment had been buried with Korah and his Company they offer'd a fresh Indignity saying Ye have killed the people of the Lord Insomuch that God slew 14700 of them in a Moment To be short whosoever takes a Prospect of their Forty Years Pilgrimage in the Wilderness shall find it to be chequer'd with Provocations and Judgments and altho they melted in the Furnace yet they return'd to their former Temper when the heat was over and became more hard and impenetrable by being wrought in the Fire Nay when they were reduc'd to that state of Government under which they were likeliest to subsist as being at the greatest distance from Divisibility I mean a Monarchy yet then I say when in the most flourishing state and in the most hopeful way to obtain stability we find them at the same time turning Apostates from God and Rebels to their Prince To proceed then when of all the Tribes scarce the tenth part which in all things else was consecrated to God became Followers of the True Religion 't was not long before that began to revolt and to turn away from the Truth For 't is recorded of the days of Rehoboam that Judah did Evil in the sight of the Lord and that they provok'd him to Jealousie with the sins they had committed above all that their Fore-fathers had done For they also built them High-Places Groves and Images on every high Hill and under every green Tree there was not a Mountain but had Altars on it and those Altars almost as many and various as the Stars of Heaven to whose Worship they were erected How often did God send to them by his Prophets by his Judgments and by his Mercies but all in vain neither the one nor the other could perfect their Recovery and what was yet worse instead of turning to their God we find them flying to the Assyrians to that Idolatrous People to be heal'd and cur'd of their Wounds like the dying Hart which went to the Covert for shelter from whence came the mortal Arrow Nor did this Contagion overspread the People only but many times their Kings and sometimes their Priests were infected with the Leprosie all which Disorders at last found an end in the Ruin of their Temple Sanctuary and City together with the loss of their Ark and of all other Sacred Relicks and Monuments whatsoever all their Princes Priests and men of Note being loaded with Irons and carried away like Slaves into dreadful Bondage and Captivity Nay after they were miraculously restor'd in the beginning of Cyrus his Reign we find them exposed to great Difficulties and engag'd with Potent Enemies in their resettlement which indeed was rather a new kind of Combat than a Restauration for it was Fourscore years and better before the Temple and Walls of the City were repair'd and not long after 't was that they were assaulted by dire Persecutions under the Greeks who liv'd in Syria as appears in the Acts and Records of the Machabees After which time they fell into divers Factions and Disorders even to the Birth of Jesus after which shortly follow'd their final Extirpation Now let us put all this together and then let us make a Judgment of the whole The Jews we see were a handful of People separated from all the World by Language Rites and manner of Life They were generally of heavy Capacities obstinate and